The Air Force's Massive Gunships Are Getting Their Own Drones

The U.S. Air Force is putting drones on some of its most deadly warplanes. The service's AC-130 gunships will be able to launch their own flying scouts that could fly where the gunship can't, keeping the aircraft out of danger while still blasting targets on the ground.

The AC-130 gunship is a C-130 Hercules transport converted into a close-air support gunship. Bristling with guns—including a side-firing 105-millimeter cannon—the AC-130 can loiter over battlefields, providing accurate, devastating firepower for troops on the ground.

One problem: the AC-130 has trouble with bad weather. Although it can see at night, thanks to its forward-looking infrared sensors, cloud cover over the target can prevent the gunship from accurately identifying its targets. While the gunship could theoretically fly under the clouds, it risks exposing itself to enemy anti-aircraft fire, particularly shoulder-fired surface to air missiles. During the first Gulf War one AC-130, call sign Spirit 03, was shot down by a SA-7 shoulder-fired missile. All 14 crew members were killed.

An unmanned aerial vehicle, on the other hand, could fly under cloud cover. The plan is to develop a drone that can be launched in mid-flight from a AC-130, fly to a predesignated area, and loiter for up to four hours. The drone would send real-time video back to the gunship, allowing the gunship to identify and engage targets it can't actually see.

Although the AC-130 can launch a drone, it can't recover one once the mission is done. They're not cheap, either: the Air Force estimates each drone will likely cost somewhere in the area of $50,000 each. Drone recovery will be possible during training, but may not be during combat. In the event that happens, the Air Force will crash the drone to prevent it from being captured.

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